Harry's Ruminations

You know, growing-up I had three examples of "real life" to go by: My mom, my Dad, and my Aunt Norie. Each led vastly different lives: Mom was a schoolteacher; Dad was a travelling salesman; and Norie did payroll for the local office of the D.O.T. Like most schoolteachers, Mom's life existed on two levels--the "regular" hours that looked so attractive, and the reality. On paper, it was a sweet enough deal: Work 7 to 2, 5 days a week, get Summer Vacation and lots of "snow days". Reality wasn't so rosy, with Mom doing lesson plans in her off time, grading papers 'til the wee hours of the morning, and running extra-curriculars all the time. So yeah, I didn't want to be a teacher. Dad's job wasn't just bad--it was an anathema. He was gone 10 to 14 hours every day selling groceries to every God-forsaken grocery store in Eastern Kentucky. He put 50,000 miles per year on his car, and only got off on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Ac...

Linky Oh, Jim Carrey, how far and hard you've fallen. Last night, Whitney and I RedBox'd Yes Man , a movie completely devoid of plot. Plot: A progression of a story through introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution (denoument). Yeah, this story has none. It has a terrific *premise*, that of a man who is stuck in a rut until he magically transforms into a guy who can't lie and hilarity ensues (wait, that's that other movie by the same guy ). No, this time, he's a guy who can't say 'Yes,' until he goes to a life-changing "Say Yes" seminar taught by General Zod. After this, he experiences a Benny Hinn-style conversion, saying "yes" to everything. Compulsively. And that's pretty much the movie. Back the truck up, there's no plot from that premise on in. Oh, there's lots of peripheral characters, vignettes, and sketches, but it's much closer to "Kentucky Fried Movie" than "Citi...

Perhaps Cal's a bargain at that price. However, when I look at the budget presentation here , I see a $2.2 Billion budget for the University of Kentucky (slide 5). Calipari's $4,375,000 per year is right at 0.2% of the total budget. A pittance? Again, perhaps. However, when we flip over to slide 11, notice a budget slashed to meet declining revenue projections, with 188 positions eliminated. It makes me sick to my stomach to read the last slide, Dr. Todd's valediction to those whose education become unaffordable, and those staff who lost their jobs: The budget before you is far from perfect. There is pain here that no one seeks and no one deserves. In it lies the sacrifice of our students, who will pay more tuition. In it too lies the sacrifice of our faculty and staff, who will not see their pay increase. Yet, you found $35 million to pay some scoundrel who'll probably lead us straight to NCAA sanctions. I can't believe my tax dollars support this kind of crap....